Arkgenos
Arkgenos "The only reason I haven't killed you yet and eaten you is because I find you mildly amusing at best, and that is wearing quite thin." ~ Arckgenos Arkgenos was a black dragon that occupied a keep in the ruined city west of Fleur de Mort. He resided in the old throne room and slept beneath a pile of bones and treasure. He had cowed a bugbear tribe into submission and they served him and brought him offerings of food and treasure. He had a black, scaly crest and horns that curled down around his head and radioactive-green eyes. He had a very acute sense of smell and tells The Unexpectables that he smelled blacksmith soot, saliva (presumably from a party member prone to getting eaten), and the fruit of Fleur de Mort on them. He was not a very large dragon, his head was only 12 feet high when he was standing, indicating that he was still immature. He was cunning and cruel and described with relish how he subjugated his bugbear servants. Though he spoke using friendly language, his tone was condescending and full of thinly veiled menace and he took great delight in keeping up a façade of civility. He enjoyed intimidating lesser creatures and reveled in their terror and impotence as he demanded tribute saying he'd spare their lives. He inquired about his victims' possessions as they were emptying their pockets seeking to take items that had intrinsic value or personal value so he could enjoy their frustration and fear. Flavor Arkgenos' meat was described as having the texture of fish and a caustic flavor, as if marinated in an acidic sauce. He was also seasoned with BBQ sauce that had been made by his bugbear servants. Relations Borky "How charming, your orc talks. That's refreshing." ~ Arkgenos Arkgenos was somewhat amused by Borky's stupidity and was delighted by his willingness to empty out the Fanny-Pack of Holding so he could pick and choose which of its contents to put on his treasure pile. He bristlesd when the orc questioned him about his size compared to other dragons and seemed to enjoy hearing Borky's offhand comment referring to him as a "sexy dragon" and other polite remarks he made. The final straw was when Borky detonated Gripples after Arkgenos tossed it into his treasure pile, destroying several items. Panic "Do you know how to kill yourself with a dragon? Climb its ego and fall to its IQ!" ~ Panic Arkgenos wanted Panic's guitar because he sensed how valuable it was to Panic when the bard attempted to hide it from him. Panic offered up his Pipes of Haunting as a replacement which the dragon gladly accepted. Arkgenos was absolutely enraged when Panic delivered a 3rd degree burn with Vicious Mockery. Unfortunately this enraged the vain Arkgenos who nearly killed the bard with a blast of his acid breath. Task "Coal scale? Is that what you vermin call me?" ~ Arkgenos Upon meeting Arkgenos, Task became quite measured in his responses due to his kobold proclivity to fear and revere dragons. He attempted to negotiate in good faith, but was bullied into cutting a rope that trapped Panic, Borky, and himself in the room with the dragon, separating them from the rest of the party. Task referred to Arkgenos as a "coal scale" which seemed to insult the dragon and didn't bat an eye when he referred to kobolds as 'vermin'. Task continued to go along with Arkenos' sham negotiations even after the dragon referred to him as food and all but stated his intention to eat the trapped party members. Task is cowed to the extent that he stands by passively as the dragon proceeds to rob Borky and Panic and even offered up his Helm of Comprehend Languages in an attempt to placate him. Even after Borky detonated Gripples destroying part of Arkgenos' treasure, Task attempted to restart negotiations one more time. Once the dragon attacked, Task sprang into action losing all his previous timidity and unleashed arrow after arrow at the dragon. When Arkgenos fled and sought to ambush the party as they tried to leave the keep, Task used his precious Dragonslayer Arrow to deliver the final blow. As his arrow flew, magical energies surrounded Task causing an illusion spell cast by Greckles to warp into the visage of a red dragon which made Arkgenos gasp "Sosorin?" with his dying breath. Trivia * Arkgenos expressed interest in speaking to female black dragons. * His horde contained a book of dragon pick-up lines that was obviously poorly written by a non-dragon. * He knew about the bird statues and even had one of a Pelican in his horde. * Sosorin is the name inscribed on the inside of the helm Solly gave to Task and the last word Arkgenos spoke. Category:Dragons Category:Antagonists Category:Deceased Characters Category:Eaten Characters Category:NPC